Hello, my husband was on S.S. disability for around a year when he passed away at age 33. my kids and I got survivors benefits for several years and now I am nearing age 60 and have not remarried. I have been told that I can claim widow benefits also,and if so will it be based on what he could have made or on what he previously made. I still plan on working as long as I am able.
Hi,
I'm sorry for your loss.
Your widow's benefit rate would be based on your husband's actual earnings, not projected amounts that he may have earned if he had lived longer. If your husband became disabled at age 32 and died at age 33 your survivor rate would likely be based on an average of roughly the highest 5 years of his Social Security taxed earnings. Plus, either cost of living increases or an adjustment based on wage indexing since the time of your husband's death would be added when calculating your widow's rate.
However, if you start drawing widow's benefits at age 60 your full widow's rate would be reduced by roughly 28.5%. To receive the highest possible widow's rate you'd have to wait until your full retirement age (FRA) to start drawing. Furthermore, your benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding until you reach FRA, depending on how much you are earning (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).
It sounds like your best filing strategy would be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age (FRA).
Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help you sort all of this out so that you can determine the best way to maximize your benefits.
Best, Jerry
